Ever since the Chinese won a silver at home in the 1990 Beijing Games, they have been a force to reckon with in Asian hockey - which is commendable indeed since it was a silver on debut!

The Chinese girls were late entrants and did not take part in the 1982 edition at Delhi when women's hockey was first introduced in the Asian Games and missed out at Seoul too.

Yet, following the dramatic start in Beijing, China has managed to finish with a medal in every single edition of the competition right until 2014 which is indeed quite a remarkable achievement.

After winning bronze in 1994 and 1998, the golden era of Chinese hockey began when they wrested the title from 4-time champions South Korea at Busan. Two more gold medals at Doha in 2006, and at home in Guangzhou in 2010, meant that the Chinese reigned supreme in Asia in spite of the Korean challenge.

Meanwhile, the Chinese had also made their mark at the world level by winning a bronze medal in the 2002 World Cup and a silver at home in the 2008 Olympics at Beijing.

In the 2014 Asian Games at Incheon, South Korea won the title but the Chinese still managed to win silver and are the most successful side after the Koreans in the Asian Games. In stark contrast, the Indians won the title in the inaugural Delhi edition but have since managed only three bronze medals in 1986, 2006, and 2014.

A lot has changed in the last couple of years, however, as the Golden Girls have taken giant strides forward by capturing the Asian Champions Trophy in Singapore in 2016 and the Asia Cup last year beating the Chinese in the finals of both competitions.

Sjoerd Marijne's side failed to defend their Asian Champions Trophy earlier this year but beat the Chinese comprehensively by a 3-1 margin before losing to South Korea in the final.

At last month's World Cup, the Chinese had to settle for the wooden spoon in the 16-nation competition while the Indians finished 8th at London.

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At Jakarta too, the Chinese girls were not too impressive, to begin with, holding Malaysia to a 2-2 draw, and losing 2-4 to Japan. It was only by virtue of a huge 15-0 win against Hong Kong that the Chinese managed to finish ahead of the Malaysians thanks to a superior goal difference and make it to the semifinal stage of the Asian Games.

The Indians, on the other hand, have notched up a series of impressive wins in all of their pool matches and will start favourites after an encouraging show at the London World Cup last month.

Captain Rani Rampal has recovered from a thigh strain and scored a hattrick against Thailand, while Gurjit Kaur is in good nick with her drag flicks.